The week between Christmas and New Year’s is usually weird, as I mentioned in my other post. But the one place things were still normal was with my workouts. I got my usual 4 workouts in for the week, even if they weren’t exactly the usual plan. I had a few classes at different times and the ones in the normal times were not 3 group classes but they were 2 group classes instead. So Monday and Wednesday were my normal times, but 2 group classes. And Friday and Saturday were different from normal times and those also happened to be 2 group classes! So I had a full week without a 3 group class!
Monday’s class was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and it was themed around practice, perfect, and perform. So on the floor, each block had exercises that worked together.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks and we had done this workout before. The first block had all short intervals at a base pace with increasing inclines. The second block was also short intervals at a base pace but we started at the highest incline and went down each time. And for the last block, we got to decide if we wanted to start at the top or the bottom of the hill. For me, I always pick to start at the top so things get a bit easier each time.
The floor was also 3 blocks and each block started with a 150-meter row. Then we went to the floor and each block had exercises that worked together. The first block had single-leg deadlifts, regular deadlifts, hip hinge swings, and bicycle chest presses. The second block had lunges, lunges with dumbbells, jump lunges, and reciprocal low rows. For this block, I just had to do regular lunges for all the lunges but I did take breaks since doing all of them at once would be a bit too much for me. And the last block had hand-release push-ups, chest presses, power push-ups, and toe touches. I was struggling on the floor with being a bit nauseous, but it wasn’t that bad so besides the lunges, I didn’t have to modify much.
Wednesday’s workout was a strength day and I was feeling miserable that day. I hated how bad I was feeling because I really wanted to try. But it ended up being a day where I just did what I could and I know it wasn’t much.
For cardio, the first block was a mix of push paces at no incline and push paces at an incline. And the push paces with inclines got shorter as the inclines got higher. The second block was all about short intervals and we started at the top of the hill with the highest incline and did base paces with incline and then an all-out at an incline. We worked our way down lowering the incline for each base pace or all-out. I did use the resistance levels on the bike and I did use the levels I would use if I had been feeling ok. I just was pedaling really slowly.
On the floor, the first block was floor exercises. We had single-arm high rows, lunges, plank in and outs, chest presses, burpees, and plank abductions. For the plank work, I used the bench for my hands so I didn’t feel as nauseous. And the second block was timed with the treadmills. When the treadmills had their base paces (which was 2 rounds for 30-seconds each at a time), we had single-arm shoulder raises. When the treadmills were in their 30-second all-outs, we had a 30-second row. Even though I did struggle with the row a bit, I think this block ended up being my best block for the entire workout.
And on Friday, since it was New Year’s Eve and I had the day off of work, I went a little later in the morning than I normally do. This workout was a New Year’s Eve theme with everything being a countdown.
For cardio, we had 1-minute push paces followed by 75-seconds to recover for pretty much the entire block. The inclines started at 10% (I did 9 over my base resistance level on the bike) for each push pace and it went down by 1% each round so we ended at 1% (or for me at my base resistance level). And when we were at that base level, we had a 30-second all-out to finish the cardio for the workout. I was feeling a little better compared to Wednesday, but still not totally myself. So I tried my best to only take breaks during the recovery time. I didn’t always do that, but it was a good goal for me to keep in my head.
And the floor was also one long block with a countdown theme, but the block was split into 4 mini-blocks. With each mini-block, we had 2 exercises that we started at 10 reps and went down by 2 reps each time. After doing 5 rounds we had a row. The first row was 700-meters and that went down 200-meters each time. The mini-blocks were push-ups and pop jacks, upright rows and front raises, squats and bridge rows, and leg raises and toe reaches. I got through the exercises for the 3rd mini-block and was about to start my 300-meter row when the class was done. But I was proud of what I did, especially with my 500-meter row. It wasn’t my best time, but I was able to do it without any breaks which felt huge with how I was feeling.
And that workout ended my workouts for 2021. I was able to do 205 workouts this past year and most of them were back at the studio so I know they weren’t easy ones! And of course, I had to start off 2022 with a workout on New Year’s Day to get started on my next workout goal!
And on Saturday, I actually went to an earlier class than I normally do since I had the day off of work. It wasn’t that early since I wanted to be able to sleep in, but it was nice to get my first workout of 2022 done with lots of time left in my day after.
This workout was an endurance day and the cardio was all about doing 90-second push paces. We had 2 blocks, and each block was all 90-second push paces with either a 45-second or 1-minute base pace between each one. And we ended with a 30-second all-out for each block. I was a bit tired that day and still nauseous, so I was glad that things were pretty consistent for cardio and I didn’t have to think too much about switching the gears on the bike.
For the floor, the first block was half rowing and half floor. We had a 600-meter, 400-meter, and 200-meter row with lunges between each row. Once those were done, we had push-ups, squats, and hip dips. And the second block had weighted front squats, burpees (which I tried to do but had to skip because I was getting too nauseous), leg extensions, and plank leg lifts. It was a tough class, but also the perfect way to kick off 2022!
And now, I get to work toward my workout goals for this year and I think I kicked them off with a great end to 2021 and a perfect start to 2022!
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